


Branding And Burning

by TastesLikeColoursToMe



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-07 23:21:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TastesLikeColoursToMe/pseuds/TastesLikeColoursToMe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>April says something at the time she regrets, but after saying it again a few nights later, it was the best she could have said. As she burns an old name from her mind, she brands a better one in its place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Burning

'Irma, what's wrong with April today?' Leonardo asked April's best friend.

Irma had started hanging out with them a few months ago and the turtles had grown as fond of her as they had for April. Irma and April were sitting in the kitchen reading a comic book. Leo and Donnie entered the kitchen a few moments before April started shifting in her seat after the two sat down with them at the table, unable to finish reading. Donnie noticed and offered to check her out; he suggested she might be sick. April got so nervous she insisted she leave the lair for a few hours. Donnie sighed but didn't leave to his bedroom like he normally did when April shut him down. He sat down next to Irma and read the comic with her.

Irma shrugged. 'I don't know, really. She's been a little off lately but hasn’t spoken to me about anything.' Irma pushed her glasses up. She knew fully what was wrong with April, but wasn't about to say. April ran up to her one day after staying at Casey's apartment, crying out about the most embarrassing thing she had experienced.

'Didn't she and Casey break? Maybe that's what's wrong.' Donnie announced with slight hope.

'Not completely, but he Is really upset with her. Mikey told me she something to him that pissed Casey off royally.' Leo walked to the refrigerator to take out a a drink and went to watch SAMFF.

Irma called to him before he went too far. 'She hasn't said much about that, but I'm surprised she told Mikey anything. Why don't you ask her, Leo? You're a great listener, maybe she'll bear all for you.' At this point April could never tell Donnie what happened. 'She'll be back soon.'

 

April came back to the lair a few hours later with a wet rain coat on and a box of objects.

'What are those for?' Irma asked from the beanbag chair.  
'Anyone have a lighter? I'm going to burn these to complete ash.' April set the box down to ask Raphael if he had anything she could use. Irma quietly got up and walked to look at the contents of the box.

'What's in it?' Mikey hissed to her. Donnie soon became interested and joined in on the investigation.  
'It's all – date stuff.' Irma rummaged through the box, sifting the items. 'Stuffed dragon, a picture of her and Casey, and letters.' She quickly scurried back to the beanbag chair when she heard April leaving Raph's bedroom. She had a lighter with her.  
'Raphael and I are going to the surface. Anyone want to join?' April picked up her box, flipped her hair and walked off. Raphael walked behind her, smirking.

 

The fire crackled, pieces of fringed paper flying off into the cold air. April always liked going up to her Aunt's rooftop. She sighed deeply, a mixture of fear and sadness overwhelmed her systems.

'Raph?' She finally spoke after fourty five minutes. 'Do you – do you know if Donnie still likes me?'

'Uh, yeah.' Raphael chuckled. There wasn't a dumber question that April could have asked. 'Why are we burning all of this?'

'Normally I'd recycle all these papers but I don't want to ever deal with this crap again. God I'm so stupid.'

'You’re really going through some shit. What's been going on with you two?' Raphael seemed like he didn't care about other people’s problems, but he did. Through the years he had opened up, lost his closest friend but he had learned to keep close the others around him. He had turned into a great guy.

 

'I said soemthing to Casey that I can never take back, but I don't know hat I cactually Want him back.' April pulled her knees up to her chest and took a deep breath. 'Casey and I were umm laying together and we were getting pretty far and things were going great... At first but then he touched this one spot on my chest and it just came out!'

'You two were fucking and you said something? What could you have possible sai-. No way.'

April looked away, ashamed of herself.

'You didn't. You said-.'

She nodded. 'I said 'Donnie'.'

Raphael held it in. He held in that laugh as best as he could, letting only a giggle escape. 'So he dumped you I'm guessing?' Another piece of paper shot up in a flame, deteriorating into charred ash.

'Yep, not even one second after I apologized. I said my mind slipped, I fell out of the moment for just a second but he knew. He let me get dressed and kicked me out. I went to my Aunt's house after that. I haven't talked to him since.'

'To be honest, I don’t think he wants to see you again.' Raph laid back against a duct. 'Who else knows?'

'Just you, Irma and Mikey.'

'You're going to have to tell Donnie about this, you know that, right?'

April didn't speak for a while. Raphael put a hand on her back. 'Listen, I may not know how you're feeling, but I know that you've felt this way before. But this time you know for a fact that you don't have to guess if the other kid likes you back. Donnie's been holding out for you for the past two years now. Just tell him.' Raphael smiled to April, and though she smiled back it still was a weak and scared one. 'If you need help with getting any alone time or how-to about asking him out just text me. I'll help you.'

April hugged Raphael tightly, he was a really great friend to her. 'Okay, I'll – I'll ask him tomorrow. Are you guys going out to patrol tomorrow night?'

'Just about every night, April.'

'If I can do this, he'll be staying home then.' April stood up, leaving the charred remainder of the box and she and Raphael jumped back down to the sewers where the rest had been waiting.

 

By the time April and Raph had gotten back down to the lair, the only ones still up were Mikey and Irma.

'What were you guys up to?' Irma asked, sitting on the couch with a blanket on. Mikey and her were playing Uno.

'We were having a good chat. Come on, let's go to my room, I need to talk to you.' April smiled, motioning for Irma to follow. Irma complied and the girls walked down the hallway.

'Hey, tomorrow night I'm going to be busy training so unfortunately we can't do a sleep over.' April apologized as she got into her pajamas.

'Oh, that's okay. I'll see if my cousin is free. She just got a new 3D planetarium that she's been wanting to try out.' Irma yawned out as she rolled over in April's bed.  
April smiled, joined her friend and turned off the light. 'Good night, Irma' but got no response. She assumed Irma passed out, and she soon fell asleep as well.

 

The Next Day!:  
From the lair you could hear April and Irma laughing about their classes, and other students. It was Friday but unlike the past few weekends Irma wouldn't be staying over with April. She was told that April would be busy that night so Irma had made plans to sleep over at her cousins house. Unlike other Fridays, this happened to be a hot one, Irma was wearing a flowing floor length skirt with her tennis shoes and a tank top that matched. April had taken off her leggings and under shirt somewhere during the school day.  
The girls had gotten to the main part of the lair and found Mikey sitting on the floor reading the same comic book that the girls were reading the day before. Irma dropped her backpack where it was and ran over to Mikey to lay down next to him. They had gotten really close. Irma thought Mikey had a cute charm to him. April laughed to herself, brought her backpack and Irma's to the corner and walked to the middle of the couch far from the two and Raphael. Raphael and April shared a silent nod then got down to the business.  
April turned on the television to watch the news until the other two turtles arrived. It took about an hour considering they probably didn't know they had guests. She changed it to a 'Funniest Videos' channel after getting bored of the weather report. It didn't take long after that for Leo and Donnie to join. After taking off their weapon belts, Leo sat near Mikey and Irma to get a closer look at the laughter inducing pain on the television. Donnie looked surprised to see the girls over so early but was more than happy at their presence.  
April looked back to see Donnie and offered him to sit next to her. He walked up to the couch, dipping his legs down to sit. April had her laptop out, and Donnie's was laying just behind her feet.  
'How has your day been, Donnie?' April asked him, looking up at him with a slight pout to her lip. She was wearing a soft shaded lip gloss.  
Donnie leaned down to get his laptop, brushing his hand across April's calf.  
'My day's been -' her leg is so soft and 'it's been good.' He nodded and pulled back up quickly. He opened his laptop to monitor any changes from his IR cameras.  
April picked up her t phone to see that Raphael has given her nine text messages.  
She shifted her weight and crossed her legs, looking at the phone still but started to talk to the timid turtle next to her.  
'So, Donnie. I got this new lip gloss. It tastes like cherries though it's called Strawberry Sunrise. You want a taste?' she curled her lips up slowly into a smile as she felt his body grow warm. 'Donnie are you feeling alright?' April closed her laptop moving her hand to feel Donnie's arm then forehead. 'You're all – warm.' Donnie didn't say anything. He couldn't. Splinter always told him that though Donnie was intelligent he often let the obvious fly over his head. Donnie felt something different that day. Compiling the recent evidence – April's bare legs and lip gloss, her flirty demeanor – could mean only one thing. She had gotten back with Casey! Donnie felt awful after realizing this.  
'No, I'm fine. You umm you look nice without leggings.' I am SO smooth! Donnie thought to himself, quietly sighing.  
April huffed, breathing a bang out of her eye. She lifted her t phone again, messaging Raphael with hot speed.

This boy is the dafted thing I've ever met ~**HeartsAndNinjaStars**~

He probably thinks you have a date with Casey tonight

You think so? ~**HeartsAndNinjaStars**~

Get him girl. turn up the heat

April couldn't think of anything to do or say. She didn't want to be too flirty too fast, that would be a little slutty but it's not like he didn't like her back. Hell, if she Did do flirty they might just get it on within the hour. But! She had to play everything slow, she didn't want to scare him off. She messaged Irma for reinforcement. After a few back and forth talks she had some new material, but she had to wait a while. After two hours April got up to go to the kitchen, once inside she sent Irma a new text.

Irma checked her newest message. She turned to Mikey. 'I'm getting a little bored of this issue. Do you have anything else we could read?  
'Sure!' Mikey exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing Irma's hand. They ran into his bedroom and crashed on his bed, spreading out many comics.

Leo had been stuck in a trance from the television though the show's marathon had ended ten minutes ago. He was now watching 'Traffic disasters 5: Crazy Moms'. Raphael got up to play on the arcade, he didn't want to see Donatello failing at this.

Donnie as he usually felt, was left alone to his thoughts, and his usual thoughts were April. It was refreshing to see her legs, he rarely got to considering the lair was always cold. Her shoulders, too, were always hidden. Her clavicle under layers of cotton was finally sticking out. Something about them left Donnie fidgeting. He felt his phone vibrate and saw it was Raph. He turned to find Raph completely into the game wondering how he could have messaged him.

*How are you texting me? You're playing video games!*

Dont worry about that Listen I'm not so sure April's back with Casey

*You have terrible grammar.*

Thats not the point Think for a moment. If April was back with him wouldnt she be Out with him

*There should be a question mark after that. Maybe they have a late night date.*

Donnie didn't receive a message from Raphael for a while after the last message. April was still in the kitchen, probably making tea. When Donnie did receive another message, however, he had a new conundrum at hand.

Caseys in Albany for the next two weeks


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize this took me a while to upload. I've been very busy at work and planning I haven't had time to enjoy my stories.

Chapter Three:

After sending the last message, April put Raphael's phone in her back pocket. The tea kettle had started to whistle but it wasn't hot enough. Soon the others would be out or asleep so April had little time to think of her next move. The cupboards were full of flavours and types of teas and coffees, chais and hot chocolates. April picked out rhaspberry for the both of them. She decided to either tell him tonight or wait another day, just one more day.

Do you like sugar in your tea Donnie? ~**HeartsAndNinjaStars**~

*Sure, :0*

*:)*

April smiled at Donnie's text message. She thought about the last time she fell for a guy, Casey obviously. He was so cool and bad, the typical good girl- bad boy thing but it worked for a while. Slowly April started to lean into Donnie's arms, his cold shell was inviting and so was the wonder if he was cold everywhere. She felt dirty and slutty thinking about Donnie when Casey swung her at the park and when they kissed. She shook away her thoughts and finished the tea.

'I'm sorry about ditching you, Donnie. I got your tea. It's rhaspberry.' April suggested, cocking her hips softly. Donnie nodded a thanks.

'Thanks, April.' He smiled. He grabbed the teas as April approached the couch. April sat next to Donnie again, a bit closer than last time and took her tea.

Silence fell between them as they parted their lips to let the tea slowly swim down their throats. One minute passed, only two smiles were shared. Two minutes added on, a short lived laugh as April hiccoughed into her cup, splashing the rhaspberry tea onto her face. Donnie felt a little awkward having had April alone to himself and him having done nothing. No talking, just breathing. It felt like they had just met that day, fresh friends having their lifetimes to talk. Donnie sighed, deciding to say something.

'So, umm how was your day, April?'

'It was good. How was yours?'

Donnie shuffled his feet, puckering his lips. 'Goood, it was goood.' I wonder if this would be easier if I were drunk. Donnie chuckled at his thought.

'What's so funny?' April smiled.

'Oh, nothing.' He smiled back. 'Where'd Mikey and Irma go?'  
'I'm not sure.' April finished her tea. She noticed Donnie's tea was empty as well. She looked around for an audience. 'A little turtle told me she's got a thing for him.'

'That's news to me, though I have to say I'm not surprised.'

'I know, right. I found out a while ago. I'll be honest I didn't think he'd be the turtle a girl would go for. I'd have imagined she'd like you.'

'Y-yeah?'

April took Donnie's empty cup he still held. 'Yeah, but Mikey's a good match for her. They're both goofs. You're too smart, she'd get bored.'

'You think?' Donnie's hands fell onto his lap, crunching into pulsing fists.

'Sure, you're really smart. I'm pretty jealous. When I'm in class I always remember that you've already learned and put to work all this confusing math.'

'God April, I certainly don't think I'm one to be envious of. You, though, I'm surprised that people aren't trying to be more like you. You're so smart a-and pretty.' Donnie stumbled with his words, not looking at April at all. 'All the guys up there must be pretty upset you're taken.'

'Oh yeah, didn't I tell you? Casey and I broke up.'

'That's unfortunate. What happened?' Donnie meant that with all good intentions no matter how relieved he was inside.

'I uhh I don't really like to talk about it. Some things were said and it ended.'

'I'm sorry.' Donnie felt pretty bad about it all. April didn't deserve to be lonely but he was grinning inside that he could have another shot with her.

They didn't say much about it after that. April turned the television to a different station and Donnie got them more tea. More small talk but April couldn't bring herself to tell him just yet. The sting of being broken up with still sat on the edge of her mind. Luckily Leonardo walked out of his bedroom, and Raphael had finished his arcade game just then. They were going out.

'Donnie, you coming? We're going out to patrol.' Leo walked past Donnie, to get his weapons and belt.

'Nah, he's got company, we're good on our own. Come on, Mikey!' Raph said to Leo. Being a part of a sneaky plan was really – fun. He enjoyed sneaking around his brother for the benefit of his brother. Plus, a doll like April shouldn't be single. It'd be a waste, honestly.

Irma and Mikey came out of his bedroom, apparently having had fallen asleep while reading comics. Her hair was disheveled and they both seemed a bit out of it.

'See you later?' Mikey hugged Irma.

'You know it.' Irma sheepishly smiled, grabbing her backpack. As she past April she winked and left the lair for the night.

April waved, looking back at Donnie after everyone had left. She giggled and drank the rest of her tea.

'Looks like your all mine, tonight.' She set her tea cup down and crossed her arms, laying against the back of the couch. She leaned into Donnie's shoulder, smiled and slowly fell asleep.


End file.
